Homecoming
by Kandell
Summary: AU oneshot about Katara's homecoming date. From the author formerly known as zutarataang4eva.


Oneshot!

Katara Kat

Zuko Zach

Hi, my name's Kat. I go to Bender High. I'm a sophomore this year. So anyway, I have a cool story to tell you! At Bender, homecoming is THE major event. If you don't go, you're a loser. If you go alone, it's even worse. So I found myself with two weeks until the dance and I was still majorly dateless. I had expressed my dismay to several of my friends, but they couldn't really do anything because they already had dates. So I was standing at my locker, complaining to one of my friends, when Zach Embers walked up. He was a junior who had the locker next to mine. He and I are so completely different. Like water and fire! Needless to say we clashed nonstop over everything.

"I can't believe you don't have a date yet, Kat," my friend Tasha said.

"Well believe it," I grabbed a book from my locker. "I might as well not go."

"But you HAVE to go!" Tasha said.

"I'm not gonna show up on my own."

"Have it your way. I've gotta get to home-ec."

So I went to my next class. I was pretty depressed, seeing as how homecoming was the main topic. So when I went to my locker I was very surprised when I opened it and a bouquet was in my face.

"What the,"

There was a card attached. It read _I'll pick you up at 5:30 for the dance._ The bouquet was SO pretty! And it smelled wonderful! I grabbed the flowers and bolted to find my friends.

So after I told all of my friends about it, I was in another dilemma: what to wear. I was discussing this again with my friend Andrew at my locker, and it was the same sort of situation as the day before. I went on to my class, suffered through it, and went back to my locker.

Another bouquet, this time blue flowers. The card read _You look good in blue. I'll dress to match._

I was so giddy when I read that! I couldn't believe how lucky I was to have a secret admirer! But then something flashed through my mind. What if my secret admirer was a total creep like Zach or something? Then I thought a creep couldn't be this romantic. And then my mind countered with several images of a seriously gross guy holding a bouquet. I nearly threw up. But school was over and it was my chance to find out who might've sent me the flowers.

I got a ride home from my brother Seth, and ran up to my room with flowers in hand. After closing my door I took a look at the card. Scratchy writing, definitely a guy. It was nice though. A very natural flow for each line. So this guy had style. Immediately a possible guy came into my head. It could be Jordan! He's the majorly hot football star that EVERY girl wants to go to the dance with, and maybe, _just maybe_ he wanted to go with me! He _had_ started calling me Kat. Then again that's my name. But just the fact that he knows my name is amazing! I mean, I've only spoken to him a few times.

So now that I thought I knew who sent me the flowers, I was even more set on going to the dance with my "mystery" date.

So here it is, the dance. Well, not quite. It's about 5:04pm and I'm just about ready. Well, I still have to finish my makeup, but I don't really wear a lot anyway so I'm almost done. So let me describe my dress to you. It's a blue knee-length strapless that laces up the back. The fabric is kind of shimmery and there's a layer of mesh-like stuff that makes the skirt kind of poofy and that sticks out about two inches from underneath the bottom of the skirt. It's the most beautiful dress I've ever worn! So my necklace was the one I always wore- the one my mom gave me. It's a blue ribbon with a blue disc that's painted to look like waves. It's the perfect color to go with my dress. On my wrists I have blue beaded bracelets and my shoes are blue heels. They're about three inches tall, which will put me at the perfect height to kiss Jordan. I can't wait until 5:30! So by the time I finished my makeup it was about 5:27. I really struggled to make my eyes look perfect. I used blue shadow and navy blue liner and black mascara to make my eyes stand out. I hoped Jordan didn't mind blue eyes.

So I had about three minutes to go, and I was as jittery as a long-tailed cat in a rocking chair factory. That's weird-speak for REALLY REALLY nervous! I decided to perfect my hair more. My hair's pretty long, so I curled it and put it up with little blue crystal pins. I spent a few minutes tucking stray hairs back in their places. Then the doorbell rang.

I bolted halfway down the stairs and then decided to make a more glamorous entrance. I ran back up and told my gran to answer the door and then come and get me. She did as I asked, and when she came up she looked excited.

"Ooh, your date's so cute!" she exclaimed. "I love his hair!"

That wasn't the normal reaction people had when the saw Jordan's hair, but hey, who really cares? I gracefully descended the stairs. At first I saw him from the waist down. He was wearing black slacks and shiny black shoes. I had to fight from squeaking like a rabid fangirl. A few more steps and I could see from the shoulders down. He wore a matching black shirt and a blue tie that matched my dress wonderfully. One more step and then- oh shit.

There, right inside the door to my home stood the bane of my existence. Zach Embers. He looked up at me with a mixed expression on his face. Part annoyance, part amusement, and the rest was unrecognizable to me.

"_You_ put the flowers in my locker?" I exclaimed.

"Ready to go?" he asked flatly.

"Wha- wha- wha-" I couldn't make any words. Zach responded by grabbing my arm- surprisingly gently- and guiding me out of my house and to his car. It was a nice car. Sleek, black, and very sporty. He walked me to the passenger door and opened it for me. Wow. Chivalrous. I sat down in the car and pulled my skirt out of the way of the door. Zach shut the door and walked over to his side. He climbed in, shut the door, and started the engine. Then he backed out of my driveway and drove off.

"So, where are we going?" I asked.

"Dinner."

"Where?"

"It's a surprise."

I decided against asking any other questions. I was still rather confused about the whole ordeal. But there was one question I _had_ to ask.

"Why did you put the flowers in my locker?" I asked.

"Do you grill all of your dates?" he replied.

Grill? Dates? How could he think he merited being my date? I was slightly offended.

"Do you always give your dates the cold shoulder?" I countered. Despite my personal feelings I couldn't deny that this was in fact a date.

"I'm not giving you the cold shoulder," he said.

"Right, you're just trying to get away with not answering any of my questions."

"Fine. If you must know, I put the flowers in your locker because I saw how disturbed you were that you didn't have a date. I felt sorry for you."

"You _WHAT?_" how in the world did he think he was doing me a favor? How dare he assume that I couldn't have gotten a date on my own! And I wasn't disturbed by it! I was- well, I was just a little depressed. But I wasn't _that_ depressed.

"How could you feel sorry for me?" I practically screamed.

"If you don't mind, screaming distracts me and I really don't want to get in an accident," he said coolly.

"Well _sorry_," I said sarcastically. I crossed my arms in a manner befitting a three year old in a temper tantrum. The ride didn't last that much longer. Zach parked in front of a swanky restaurant. As we exited Zach handed his keys to a valet and received a ticket in return. We walked over to me and laced his fingers through mine. It was surprisingly comfortable. I actually almost smiled as he led me through the door of the building. We walked over to a stuffy-looking guy behind the reservation booth.

"Reservation for two, Embers," Zach said.

"Ah yes," the man said, looking down his nose at a list of names. "This way." He grabbed two menus and walked out into the dining hall. Zach and I followed. I was amazed at the room. It was a classic ballroom with tables and chairs and several hoity-toity people nibbling and chatting. We were ushered to a nice table right at the edge of the dance floor. Zach pulled my chair out for me and I sat down. Wow this guy was a gentleman! Then he sat across from me and we looked at the menus. I was shocked. Everything was so expensive! I mean, $30 for a steak? I looked up at Zach to see his expression. He looked calm, like he ate here every week.

"Try the shrimp fettuccine," he said. "It's really good."

I looked and the fettuccine was one of the more expensive dishes.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"I just-"

"If you're worried about the price, don't."

"Okay," I said. I still felt weird being on a date with a guy I barely knew. The waiter came and we both ordered. I got the fettuccine, like Zach suggested, and he ordered a steak. A band started playing soft, classical music. Zach looked at the dance floor, then to me, then back to the floor.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked.

"Dance?"

"Yeah."

"O- okay, sure," We both stood up and walked onto the floor. Zach took my hand and pulled me close, placing his other hand at the small of my back. I started to regret the lace-up part of my dress. I could feel his hand against my skin started to blush. I tried to fight it but only made it worse. Zach must've thought I was so weird. I glanced up to look at him. The heels I had worn to put me close to Jordan's height put me at eye-level with Zach's chin. He looked down at me.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"N-no, why would anything be wrong?" I replied. I averted my eyes to the band. It was made up of violins, violas, flutes, cellos, basses and one piano. The music was beautiful. Zach was beauty- what was I thinking? One date can't make up for months of annoyance! Or maybe- no- wait- ah! What was my mind doing to me? Zach stepped closer to me. Did someone just turn the heat up? I looked up at him. He had beautiful eyes. Wait a minute! I'm not supposed to fall for this guy! I was really getting confused. And then I was saved. Our waiter brought our food to our table, so we stopped dancing and returned. I was still blushing.

Needless to say the food was amazing. Zach and I shared some small talk. Nothing major. Mostly school stuff. When we were done eating it was about 6:50pm. We needed to head to the school for the dance. We left- don't worry; Zach paid for the food- and began the drive to the high school.

"Dinner was great," I said, hoping to avoid akward silence.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Zach said. And he actually smiled! Can you believe that? Anyway, there was some more minor small talk. This time we talked about traffic. About ten minutes later Zach had parked in front of the school and we were walking towards the door. We entered, Zach handed the people at the door the couple's ticket, and we entered the commons. There was a surprisingly large amount of people there considering we were sort of early. Zach escorted me to the gym where the dj was set up. Rock music was blaring. An extreme contrast to what had been playing at the restaurant. I couldn't help but dance. Zach just looked at me like I was amusing to watch. I danced up to him and grabbed his hands.

"C'mon, dance!"

"I don't dance," he replied, slightly laughing.

"What about at the restaurant? What was that, mister Smooth-Moves?" I giggled at him. I couldn't really help myself. I dragged him closer to the speakers and started dancing. He actually started to dance along. Then our moment was ruined when Sarah bounced up.

"Hey Ka- whoa," she stared at Zach, open-mouthed. Her date- my brother- caught up with her. "So _this_ is your secret admirer?"

"Well-" I didn't know what to say. Zach _had_ said that he did this as a pity date.

"Yeah," Zach cut in. "Just can't keep my eyes off of her." He made a quick glance in Seth's direction. Seth glared.

"Just make sure you can keep your _hands _off." My brother was way too protective. Luckily Sarah intervened and dragged Seth off before he could do anything.

"How bout that dance?" Zach said, smiling down at me. I smiled back.

The rest of the night went on wonderfully. We danced, laughed, and had an amazing time. After the dance, Zach drove me home. He walked me up to the door and said goodbye. He turned to leave.

"Zach?" he turned back to me. I couldn't help myself. I leaned up on my tiptoes and kissed him. He took a step back and almost fell off of the porch, wrapping his arms around me to keep me from falling as well. That's when Seth got home.

"Get your hands off my sister!" he yelled. Zach and I both turned, wide-eyed. Seth stormed up the stairs and made a swing for Zach, but he managed to dodge and hopped off of the porch and to his car.

"See you Monday Bright Eyes," he smiled back to me, then got in his car and left.

"In!" Seth shouted, pointing to the door. I did as he said, and after he closed the door and began to lecture me.

"How many times do I have to tell you to watch what guys do? Do you know what might've happened if I hadn't gotten home when I did? Do you know what's probably running through his head right now?"

"Crap I've got homework?" I ventured. Seth stared at me open-mouthed. He stared on in silence, and I took that opportunity to walk past him and to my room. Monday would come way too slowly.


End file.
